Clays, zeolites and titanosilicates are used as inorganic ion exchange materials. These materials are excellent adsorbents for cesium and strontium, but they display low selectivity and binding affinity for mercury.
Layered chalcogenides with ion exchange properties remain scarce. The materials that are known are mainly limited to alkali ion-intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides AxMQ2 (A=alkali ion; M=early transition metal, Q=S, Se, Te). However, such materials are not suitable for practical applications as ion exchangers, due to their thermodynamic and hydrolytic instability.
Accordingly, there still exists a need for improved ion exchange materials.